By Julia M.

If you’re a fiction reader, you have probably heard buzz about R.F. Kuang’s latest book, Katabasis. While you’re waiting for your hold on Katabasis to be delivered, I’ll make my case for you to pick up Kuang’s 2022 hit, Babel: or the necessity of violence: an arcane history of the Oxford Translators’ revolution. If you’ve been yearning for the kind of book hangover that makes it impossible to pick up anything else because your mind is plagued with thoughts of the book you just finished — this is the book for you. (True story: I finished Babel over a month ago and haven’t stopped thinking about it since.) 

Babel is set in a historically re-imagined 1800s Oxford, England. We first meet the main character, Robin, as he’s dying of cholera in Canton, China. A professor from Oxford, Richard Lovell, comes to save his life with magic — but only after Robin’s mother passes away from the illness. From then on, Robin is raised as Professor Lovell’s ward, and spends the rest of his childhood being prepared for a higher education at Oxford University’s Royal Institute of Translation, also known as Babel. At Babel, Robin meets fellow year-mates Ramy, Victoire, and Letty, who become an inseparable band of friends throughout their education. He discovers a secret society that sparks the rumbles of revolution on campus — and whose connections run deeper than first meets the eye. 

If you’ve read The Poppy War or Yellowface, you’ve already become familiar with the pattern of R.F. Kuang’s books — she constructs a setup that is exciting, endearing, alluring, and which might be a book of its own in the hands of another writer. After she makes you fall in love with her characters, she does something that sets her apart: she swings the pendulum of reality in your face. You’re made to face brutalities that exist in our real-world society and shatter any delusions of a happily-ever-after for the characters you’ve grown to love.

R.F. Kuang writes with candor about colonialism, racism, language, academia, and power. To weave in elements of fantasy is an added bonus that makes the world rich and makes you wish you could stay in its happy places longer. For better or for worse, you’ll fall in love with the group of four hopeful students we meet at the onset of the story; I can’t say more about them without spoiling the story, so go ahead and read for yourself.

Babel by R. F. Kuang is available in print, e-book, and e-audiobook formats.

Julia is a Teen Instructor & Research Specialist at the Central Branch. They love reading YA books, playing the cello, practicing martial arts, trying new cookie recipes, and generally squeezing as many hobbies into a day as possible.